March and April

I started this post in early April.

I was really getting "hitch itch" as we whiled away the last few weeks of our winter stay at Jojoba Hills. In March we went down to the border town of Los Algodones, Mexico to get a little dental work taken care of. Craig had a very old crown come off that he needed  to have replaced. I needed a cleaning and ended up getting a "deep cleaning" on one quadrant because I had a pretty deep pocket next to one of my teeth. We go to Sani Dental and have been very satisfied with their work over the years.

I also do enjoy looking at all the colorful goods offered by the vendors, and as usual did buy one little thing: a new handbag. I had hoped to find some yard art, but the only things that grabbed my attention were the colorful ones, and I learned they require recoating with lacquer every six months or so if kept outside. I don't want anything that needs attention to look nice!

We spent a very nice low key Easter Sunday at our daughter's home in San Diego. Coincidentally, April 1 was the fifth anniversary of the sale closing of our mountain home. Time flies!  

We spent another week there in mid-April as dog-sitters when they (daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons) went to Houston for the National FIRST Robotics competition. We enjoyed watching the Regional near San Diego recently.

The boys have been very active on their school robotics team, which qualified for one of two National finals.  This was the last competition for the older grandson. He will be heading off to college at MIT in Boston next fall. We are very proud of them both.

The weather here at Jojoba Hills has been wonderful this winter. We have had very few cold or gloomy days, and on the other hand, not many extra-hot ones. 

Saturday night there was a very nice sunset to enjoy. At the other site we could see the sunset from our windows, at the new site there is a tree blocking the view, but if we step out we can see the western sky quite well.  

And now I have found a nice spot on our site where we can put our chairs and enjoy the sunsets.

This is the view from the center of the road outside our coach. Not much traffic! I can stand out in the center of the road without danger. The speed limit is 9 1/2 MPH, and most vehicles are golf carts.

Sunset, zoomed in.

The passenger side of our coach faces southeast. The clouds often catch some sunset color as well.  

I know I have written that Jojoba Hills was built by volunteers, and that the members/residents help with maintenence by tackling tasks according to their abilities.

 Above, one of our more flexible members is repainting the pavement stop signs. Yes, she is a "senior citizen." But she also teaches Zumba!

Many RVers have pets.

Our neighbor across the street has an enclosed garden where three  Desert Tortoises live.

They do travel in their motorhome, but they stay at Jojoba in the winter, and one of the full-timer summer residents cares for the garden and keeps them fed and watered.

Tommy is the big male above. Our neighbor had his father and mother as a boy, and Tommy was the result of one of their clutches of eggs. You know he gave them really good care because they have had sucessful offspring! Tommy's mother is one of the three. 

They like roses. 

The smaller tortist is called Rosie. She was a "rescue."

Last year she was a bit shy and avoided Tommy, but now she is willing to get right in there and claim her fair share of the flower.

All gone! You can see the size difference between them.

After eating she went into the shallow water dish and our neighbor sprayed her. He said that they like to get wet down even though they are desert criitters.

The end of April full moon is called the "pink" moon. Not because it is actually pink, but for the many pink flowers that will be in bloom soon. (Except it seems in California, where yellow is the dominant color for wild blooms.)

It was quite bright, and rose over the hills beyond our back yard.

The picture was taken our last night at Jojoba Hills for the season. We set out for our summer travels first thing Monday, April 30th. an are now in Las Vegas at the Duck Creek RV park.

Watch for more frequent posts!  We are on the move.

A short parrot story:

We are staying in  San Diego at our daughter's home for a few days. Yesterday afternoon Craig heard quite a ruckus out back, and upon checking it out, discovered several squawking green parrots.

The following was reported by this fine fellow.

Two parrots landed on the same wire. 

The first parrot asks:  "Have you heard this one?" and then tells a silly parrot joke.

"Ha, Ha, Ha!" 

Then the second parrot says: "I've got a good one too!"

"Tell me, tell me!" begs the first. 

Then they all flew away ...

The End.

It is Easy to move when your house has wheels!

And moving is just what we did on Saturday.

When we bought in as new members of the Escapee RV Club park Jojoba Hills, we came in on site 719.

Site 719 had both good and not-so-good aspects. We could have solved some of the negatives, but decided to look at other sites as they became available.

The best aspect of 719 was the large west exposure which made seeing and appreciating the beautiful sunsets easy. 

Our last sunset at Site #719 Mourning Dove Way, Jojoba Hills

But the same Western exposure was a problem, in that we had full sun on the side of the Alfa every afternoon. We were concerned about the stress this put on our refrigerator, and the cost of running the air conditioner to keep the rig at a livable temperature. Also, the sun made our patio area uncomfortable.

We were told we could move to another site when one became available. This is where it gets tricky. The park is 100% occupied, and as of March 2018 there are more than 60 on the waiting list. I have heard the average number of people leaving each year is  25 - 30. Most leave because it is time for them to move into assisted living, in with their children, or back into their houses elsewhere, year round. 

There are a couple of ways to get a different site. I call the first "openly available".  When someone releases their membership, their site is listed as available for seven days. Interested members are put on a list, and the interested member with the most seniority gets the site. Their old site goes through the same process until there is no member interested. Then it is offered to #1 on the waiting list. All sites are not equal. With this system it is unlikely a new member will get the most coveted locations.

During  our two winters here, I looked at all of the sites that became openly available, and did not like any of them better than #719.

But, there is another way to get a different site.  That being a member-to-member site trade, which often happens before a site is released. The system allows any two members to trade sites. So, what happens is when someone is planning to leave, they can trade with another member. Then that member gets their site, and the
leaving member releases from their site. I have seen several trades made before the final site becomes openly available. Sometimes it is "who you know" or being in the right place at the right time!

This is what happened for us. Several months ago I learned that an acquaintance of ours was planning on leaving at the end of the season. She shared a membership with her elderly mother, who was tired of traveling back and forth from Alaska. They had a trailer with an attached deck on the site, and their hope was to sell it to someone from the park. But as it turned out, no one wanted the trailer, including us, and so they sold it to someone who came in and removed it. We agreed that if that happened, we would trade sites.  It happened, and as of Saturday we have a new home, site #603.

As the saying goes: "What's not to love?" 
 603 is larger than 719. Let me show you around:

On the West side, this tree gives us some privacy on our bedroom window. We can see through it from our dining table, and see the  hummingbird feeder I hung there. The tree will block the full view of the sunset from inside, but it also provides some afternoon shade. 

The east side has two grapefruit trees, and overlooks the valley at the edge of the park. Our cement patio slab is in full shade in the afternoon.

I know this tree is dead, but it has so much character! I told Craig we have to look for some fun Mexican yard art when we go down to Los Algodones next week. 

As I walked around the site on our first afternoon, I saw this guy in the dead tree. Not the best picture, but the first hummer I have ever caught in focus. It is a Ruby Throat, but I did not capture the bright red of its neck.  It fluffed up to keep warm.

Back to the site tour: 

The neighbors across the street have a beautifully maintained site. In the past I noticed their well-cared-for roses booming prolifically.

The view from our windshield is of the tree-lined edge of one of the Jojoba ponds.

It is one of my favorite places in the park.

Another view of the front of our lot. Yes, we are on the edge of the road, but the speed limit is 9 1/2 MPH, a lot of the traffic is golf carts, and everything closes down by 9 PM! We are old people.

I am really looking forward to our times here on our new site.

I'm ending this post now so I can walk up to Friendship Hall for the Sunday Zumba class.

But first:

Another shot of the Hummer.

and Craig with his St. Patrick's Day Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Life is good!

Eagle Scout, a new card, and PT in RV

We are very proud of our oldest grandson Jeremy. On Saturday we attended a Court of Honor to celebrate his advancement to the rank of Eagle Scout, along with four of his fellow troop 500 members.

Andrew, Jeremy, and Deidre

Being very aware of the horrible events in Florida this past week, seeing these remarkable young men was even more precious. My heart aches for all those families. We are so lucky.

At the ceremony, one of our friends took a good picture of us. It is indeed rare for both of us to look this good! 











I decided it was a good image to use for a new card. Our old one was at least five or six years old.

This is the result of a couple of hours playing with Photoshop. 
We both had haircuts that morning! 

On another front:

The exercises for the Physical Therapy for my shoulder are going very well. I have advanced from simple stretch movements to using an elastic band to give me some resistance. In the RV, I have found a cabinet handle that is just the right height for this. 

Last week I have also started using a pulley system for range of motion work. It fits over the door to the closet hallway. My step stool that I use to help reach the higher cabinets, is a good backless seat.

When I advance to stand up exercises, this may not be high enough, but the ladder on the back of the coach should work just fine.

Overall the recovery is going well.  Slowly, but progress is being made. 

Next week we travel down to the Yuma area so we can visit Los Algodones, Mexico for some dental work. 

It will be interesting to see if our new AGM batteries charge faster when we are dry camping at the Casino.

Winter Blast at Lake Havasu City, AZ

I really was not sure what to expect when we reserved our space at the Lake Havasu City Rodeo Grounds for the Winter Blast event. I knew it featured three or four nights of what I had heard were very good fireworks, that you could watch right from your RV.

Well, that was not 100% true. On the first night we did join our fellow Alfa owners' group, sitting around our fire just outside our rig.  We could see the fireworks, but they were pretty far away and we could not see any of the ground works.

Friday and Saturday nights, we drove to the upper edge of the RV parking area and had a much better view.

Craig shot about 1400 images on those two nights, using a tripod and a rapid fire setting.  He deleted more than a thousand of them. I had a hard time picking out a few of the images of fireworks that I don't think I ever saw before. 

The Winter Blast is all about the fireworks, and not much more. We were on our own as far as activities during the day. As I mentioned in my last post, we did go to town and took one hike. The other days we were just lazy and relaxed around the coach, reading and playing with computer stuff.

We also bought the three night meal tickets for $25 per person. The food was pretty good considering the cost. It was made and served by locals and we ate at tables outside. It was nice to not have to cook for a few nights!

The fireworks were very special. From what I understand, different vendors and manufacturers of fireworks take turns setting up their shows, and trying out some of their newest products. Each night, they started before dark and continued well past 10 PM. We watched until we were too cold and a bit tired, went back to our Alfa, and listened to the booms for some time after.

We made reservations last November on the advice of one of our Alfa Facebook friends. Good thing, because the RV parking sold out. We were given information about reserving a space for 2019 when we checked in! We heard that many of the spots along the top rim have been reserved by the same people for years. We noticed many large groups of people having get-togethers up there.  There was plenty of room for everyone to set up front row chairs along the walls.

[From Craig] Is that an alien observer in the upper right?

Although we arrived on Monday, we noticed that many rigs did not come in until later in the week. The price was the same, $150, for one night to seven nights. We pulled out the following Monday. Our appointment in California, to get new batteries installed and have a few other things looked at was on Tuesday, so we were in no rush. 

I am posting this from the Leisure Coachworks (formerly Alfateers) parking area. We have met other Alfa owners who are also parked here to get work done. Looks like it will be a congenial group.

As almost always among RVers!

Yes, You Can Take It With You When You Go!

If you live in an RV that is! For me, one of the best aspects of living in our motorhome is we can take almost everything we have with us when we go, on a short or long trip. Our bed, our clothes, our kitchen, my craft materials, and our computers. I don't have to pack or make decisions about what to bring and what to leave behind. 

We were up early, but we took our time getting on the road Monday morning. The 275 mile drive to Lake Havasu City for the Winter Blast Pyrotechnic Festival, was uneventful. We were parked and set up at the rodeo grounds by 4 PM. 

Although this was not an official Alfa rally event, one of the Alfa owners, Dave Volker, worked with the lady who set up the parking, so that the Alfas were parked together. We also had a space for a campfire location. On Monday it was fairly cold and windy and most of us had just arrived so we didn't gather, but as the week progressed, the weather got better and the group grew. We always enjoy sharing technical information and stories with other Alfa owners, and it is fun to have faces to go with Facebook and Yahoo Group names.

Tuesday, Craig and I went over to see London Bridge. We have been through this part of Arizona several times, but have never stopped.

We both remember when in the 60's, Robert Paxton McCulloch who seemed like a crazy man, bought the bridge from the city of London, and had it reassembled in a desert town that had only a few residents.  He also moved his chain saw and outboard motor manufacturing plant to the town.

A dam was built, and he had a channel dredged to divert water from the Colorado River. After a few years, Lake Havasu City became a recreational destination.

What kind of bird is this?
 It was sitting on a post at the bridge.

I am going to have to ask my friend Judy Bell to identify this bird for me. I looked at pictures in my Audubon Field Guide and he looks like a Rusty Blackbird. But the guide shows its range does not include Arizona.  Does anyone know what it is?

On Wednesday we took a hike along some of the many trails in Sara Park. 

From the parking area where we started, there were about five fairly easy trails that seemed to be intertwined. Some had tracks from ATVs.

After about a mile, the trail led into a creek bed wash that was pretty easy to walk.

Craig sat down to rest while he waited for me. I kept stopping to take pictures of all the neat rock formations.

About a mile and a half in,  the trail got a little harder as it went through a slot canyon. Unfortunately by this point my shoulder was beginning to ache and I was reluctant to  go down a steeper place, lest I slip and have to steady myself with the pole in my left hand.

All in all we hiked more than three miles. The weather was beautiful. The rocks were interesting,

but the best sight was the Jeep at the end.  I was really tired when we got back to the rig. But after a little rest, I was ready to enjoy the company around the campfire once again.

RV friends are good.